Ukrainian evacuation units can not reach Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast due to Russian constant shelling of the roads, UkrInform reported. Some 530 people remain in the settlement, said Vadym Filashkin, head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration.

Chasiv Yar is a strategically important settlement. Its potential capture by Moscow forces could threaten other key Donbas cities, including Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, which serve as crucial logistical routes for Ukrainian defenders.

Earlier, Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s Khortytsia Operational and Strategic Grouping of Forces, said that Russian forces attempted to destroy Chasiv Yar by hitting it with mortars and artillery, with attacks that sometimes could be over 250 per day.

Filashkin assured that all children were evacuated from Chasiv Yar. However, other civilians remain.

“Some 530 people stay in the city of Chasiv Yar. There were about a thousand there over the past three weeks, and these people did not want to leave. Now, entering Chasiv Yar is almost impossible because all the roads are being targeted by the enemy with both artillery and drones,” the regional head noted.

He added that the Russians closely monitor when Ukrainian evacuation columns enter to pick up people and, “unfortunately, they also constantly shell them.”

Russian invaders have intensified shelling of settlements of Donetsk Oblast since December 2023. It led to the decision to continue the mandatory evacuation of the population from the region.

Since the beginning of the all-out war, more than 1.4 million people, including almost 170,000 children, have been evacuated from the Donetsk region to safer regions.

Read more:

• Battle for Chasiv Yar: analysts report Russian progress, Ukrainian army disputes
• ISW: Russia may intend to leverage ongoing Toretsk push for advances in Chasiv Yar or Avdiivka areas
• Fierce fighting near Siverskyi Donets-Donbas canal as Russian forces assault Chasiv Yar
• Military: Ukrainian forces push Russian invaders out from Chasiv Yar’s ‘Kanal’ micro-district